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Ben Folds + Nick Hornby + Pomplamoose = Adorable

Musician Ben Folds and novelist Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About a Boy, lots more) have just released a new album called Lonely Avenue. To build a little buzz, Folds and Hornsby collaborated with internet phenoms Pomplamoose as their backing band, creating a "Video Song." The result has Hornby doing some spoken word (though the album involves more straightforward songs with just Folds singing). The Video Song is a charming little ditty called "Things You Think," and I think it's just adorable:

Folds + Shatner = Even Better

But lest we forget: this isn't the first time Ben Folds has worked with spoken-word collaborators. His unbelievably good 1998 single "In Love" featured Folds singing the chorus, with William friggin' Shatner narrating the verses. The band was called Fear of Pop, and to be honest, the non-Shatner material wasn't that great. But "In Love" is still divine. Check out this live performance from 1999:

Ben Folds + Rufus Wainwright = "Careless Whisper"

After the jump, check out Folds and Wainwright tear up the classic Wham! tune in 2004. Dude gets around, is all I'm saying.

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Also on Mental Floss:

DID YOU KNOW? Marlon Brando hated memorizing lines so much that he posted cue cards everywhere to help him get through scenes.
He even asked for lines to be written on an actress's posterior. (That request was denied.)